Roger Federer, Night Owl

Roger Federer hits a return to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga during Federer’s quarterfinal Australian Open victory Wednesday.

If not for the tennis, it’d be easy to mistake Roger Federer for a teenager on spring break.

He says he’s been skipping breakfast and sleeping from 3 a.m. to noon during the Australian Open fortnight, which has seen him play four of his first five matches at night, including a grinding five-set win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Wednesday.

Not that his game is suffering. The second seed stands two wins away from a record 18th Grand Slam title, with third seed Andy Murray next on the docket.

Federer defeated a spirited Tsonga 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals to reach his record 10th consecutive Australian Open semifinal.

Though Tsonga saved four match points at 2-5 in the final set, there was no stopping the Swiss icon.

“I very often come up with some great [play] against him in the Slams when it mattered, but we’ll see if I can produce it again,” Federer said.

That wasn’t his only attempt at a pre-match psych-out: With Murray the only semfinalist yet to drop a set, Federer also suggested that because the Scot hadn’t been tested or pushed by any opponents so far, he could be at a disadvantage.

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